Headaches Can Start in Your Jaw
When the jaw and bite are out of balance, headaches and migraines can follow. Dr. Kinsey has treated hundreds of migraine patients by addressing that root cause.
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Home Dental Services Headaches
Headaches can be hard to diagnose and treat. They can be linked to so many different conditions, it can be hard to isolate the true cause. In addition, there has been less research on headaches than on other medical conditions, so care has fallen behind other areas of medicine. Finally, some doctors just don’t take them seriously. The combination of these factors means that many people suffer for years.
At Palencia Dental, Dr. Stephanie Kinsey takes your headaches very seriously. She has helped many people in St. Augustine and surrounding areas get lasting, drug-free relief from headaches. Please call 904-826-4343 today to learn whether she can help you.
Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ or TMD) are an overlooked cause of headaches. Many people and their doctors don’t think that the jaw could be causing headaches. However, it’s actually very common. They might be linked to TMJ if:
Conventional headache treatments are often focused on relieving the symptom, and therefore they don’t stop them from reoccurring. TMJ treatment focuses on relieving the cause of your headaches, which can reduce their frequency and severity or eliminate them entirely.
If you have TMJ, jaw activity can serve as the trigger for your headaches. If you eat a hard-to-chew meal, spend a day talking, or chew gum along with jaw clenching and grinding (bruxism) could be causing your headaches. Since many people don’t know they’re sleep bruxers, they overlook the TMJ link.
Finally, it’s important to consider whether you have other TMJ symptoms, such as tooth wear, jaw pain, ringing in the ears, and more.
Three headache types are strongly linked to TMJ:
If you have any of these types of pain, it could be linked to TMJ. Here’s how.
Sleep apnea is also a common cause of headaches. Sleep apnea disrupts your sleep by forcing you to wake at least partially hundreds of times a night, even though you might not know it. This disrupts your sleep and makes you susceptible to headaches, especially migraines. You might also be clenching your jaw as you sleep to try and keep your airway open and prevent apnea attacks. If you are looking for headache relief, we might recommend you get evaluated for sleep apnea.
If you are suffering from headaches in or near St. Augustine, and your doctor can’t help, we might be able to. Please call 904-826-4343 today for an appointment with TMJ dentist Dr. Kinsey at Palencia Dental.